Scripture

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening…You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!

~Psalm 92:1,2,4, NLT

Quote

The key to the throne room is a grateful heart. Enter His gates with thanksgiving.

~Sarah Young

I am amazed at how little I know about prayer after being a child of God for 65 years. My ignorance on the subject is appalling. I don’t disagree with Sarah, but I think there is more than one key. As soon as I read her comments, I wrote humility in the margin. I would also add contrition. We can’t enter unless we do it in Jesus’ name, but humility, contrition and thanksgiving are certainly keys. My weakness in prayer is praise and adoration which is the reason I used the Psalms to help me pray. David excelled in this area. I do like to count my blessings. I like to name them one by one. Of course they are innumerable. I jotted down a list at breakfast and when I got to the office, I added to the list, and you can do this all day long. I visit people that cannot drive, cannot walk, cannot do simple things for themselves. They are totally dependent on the care of others. I can’t jump fences anymore, but I give the LORD thanks that I can walk, drive, visit and share the burden of those who are struggling. I can’t hear good, but I can hear. I can’t see good, but I can see. Thank God for bi-focals and volume controls.

I have lived a long time and I have never known an ungrateful person that was happy. Ingratitude and bitterness always go together. Naomi always comes to mind when I get on this subject. Naomi means pleasant but when she returned to Bethlehem and the women greeted her as Naomi, she corrected them immediately, “Don’t call me Naomi, Instead, call me Mara {bitter}, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer, and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” Had Naomi’s life been difficult? Yes! Was she overlooking some blessings that she had failed to recognize? Yes! She should have been thankful for Ruth and to be home.

It is a mystery, but some people suffer extreme hardship while others live relatively problem free. Roe Erister “Rick” Hall (January 31, 1932 – January 2, 2018) was an American music producer who lived and died in Muscle Shoals Alabama. I’m not into music that much but he worked with some famous people who recorded their music in his Muscle Shoals studio. When Rick was a child, he lost a younger brother to a freak accident. Shortly after the tragic death of his younger brother, his mother skipped the country. She abandoned the entire family. Eighteen months after Rick married, his wife was killed in an automobile accident. When Rick became successful, he bought his father a tractor, but his father was killed on the tractor in a farming accident. Do you think you can top that? Self-pity is loathsome. No one is edified or attracted to self-pity. The more we play on the sympathy of others the smaller we become. There is a better way–give thanks with a grateful heart. Count your blessing not just at Thanksgiving but every day.

Extra

We have our 49er luncheon today and no, we are not in our new fellowship hall yet, but we are close. We may be in it by the August meeting. We eat at 11:30 so if you are free come and join us. We have at least two families traveling. Buddy and Vickie are on vacation and Don and Terri are in Virginia. Don’s son Donny was promoted last week. I think this will be the first 49er meeting that Terri, Buddy and Vickie have missed. We have good food and fellowship and no program. I say a blessing over the food and that is it.

I was studying on Tuesday and the LORD gave me my sermon outline in one brief flash of inspiration. I wrote it down somewhere but now I can’t find my notes. It had three points, and I can only remember one.

Mrs. Leona Burden has been declining lately. She is no longer mobile and in a hospital bed. She is still eating some, but she is very tired. To be honest with you, I am more than impressed with her determination to live 99 years. Pray for Mrs. Leona.

Have a good weekend and thanks for reading the blog.